Thursday, December 21, 2017

This month, in the latest issue of the "Avions de Combat" magazine, I am pleased to sign an article about the Battle of Fallujah, an Iraqi city that could not have been liberated without the air support of the coalition, particularly the Royal Air Force, which had already been widely engaged in the battle of Ramadi. In issue 358 of "Air Forces Monthly", my usual "Flashpoint" is dedicated to the Battle of Marawi. I look at the development of the Philippine Air Force’s offensive capabilities and how these were put to use in the recently concluded campaign to liberate the city.

And that’s strong evidence that the United Arab Emirates is preparing to intervene even more in the grinding Libyan civil war. The imagery of Al Khadim, located in Al Marj province, depicts a new large parking area and aircraft shelters that could accommodate jet fighters.

Despite the expulsion of the Islamic State (IS) in Libya from Sirte and Benghazi the past year, the group started to reorganize and was able to attack both Libya National Army and Misrata militias. In May 2017, the terrorist group targeted a convoy belonging to the Misrata Third Force, a controversial militia suspected of war crimes in the so-called “Brak al-Shati massacre” the same month by killing 134 people in LNA ranks, and among civilians some of them simply executed.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

After local forces booted the Libyan branch of Islamic State from Sirte and Benghazi in 2016 and 2017, the terror group reorganized and launched counterattacks targeting both the Libyan National Army and that regime’s rival, the Government of National Accord and associated Misrata militias.

But ISIS’s survival in the region has not motivated the competing regimes in Libya to set aside their differences. An already complex conflict could grow more complex as ISIS again mobilizes in a war-torn country that hasn’t had a single national government since 2011.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Famous Congolese pilot Col. Jean Louis M’pele M’pele (on the left on the photo above), who flew for the Zairian air force, passed away on Nov. 12, 2017. M’pele was one of the first African pilots to fly the French-made Dassault Mirage 5.

Zaire, now called Democratic Republic of Congo, was only the second country in Africa – after South Africa with the Mirage III – to purchase the Dassault delta-wing fighter jet. But the Mach-two plane wasn’t well-suited to the Central African theater and its weather, and never really met Zaire’s needs.

This month, I have contributed to Issue No. 132 of "Défense & Sécurité International" magazine with an analysis of the results and effects of the aérial campaign of the Arab coalition in Yemen. It follows a
first article published in Issue No. 119 of November 2015 which presented
an inventory of the coalition operations after six months of campaign.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

On Nov. 10, 2017, 28 people were found shot dead southwest of the Libyan capital in Wershafana area. Among the victims were soldiers from the Libyan National Army, one of the main regimes competing for power in the country.

The National Human Rights Commission in Libya called on the Libyan authorities to investigate the massacre. The commission claimed the killings occurred after troops from the Government of National Accord — the LNA’s rival — stormed the Wershafana area.

On Nov. 5, 2017, the website Libya Times published on social media photos of the remnants of an unexploded guided artillery projectile, but misidentified it as a U.S.-made Excalibur.

War Is Boring identified the munition as a Chinese GP1 guided 155-millimeter artillery munition — a licensed copy of the Russian 30F39 Krasnopol guided shell.

Libya Times reported that the shell was fired on Nov. 1 near Wearshafana, on the outskirts of Tripoli, by forces loyal to Osama Al Juwaili as they attacked the Fourth Brigade led by Brig. Bashir Najih.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

On November 2nd, 2017, Iraqi Air Force's 9th Fighter Squadron took delivery of a new batch of three F-16Cs increasing to twenty one the total of Vipers in service on Iraqi territory. The first four F-16C/Ds arrived in Iraq on July 13th, 2015. Four days before, two single-seater (serial numbers 1607 and 1610), and two two-seaters (serial numbers 1601 and 1604) took off from Tucson and landed at Lajes in the Azores the same day. They landed at Balad AB on July 13th where they joined the new 9th Fighter Squadron. Two months later, they carried out their first combat missions against Islamic State militants. Twenty one aircraft is now enough to sustain intensive operations against ISIS.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

In October issue (No. 355) of Air
Force Monthly magazines, I
published my fourth contribution to the "Flashpoint" series of short reports : "Tough times for Chadian Air Force", the reborn of Chadian Air Force and its involvement in the war against Boko Haram until a storm damaged most of CAF fleet last July.

On Sept. 5, 2017, Iraqi air force major Noor Faleh Al Khuzai died in the crash of his F-16 fighter during a training flight in Arizona. This is the second F-16IQ the Iraqi air force has lost in Arizona. On June 25, 2015, F-16C serial number 1609 crashed, killing its pilot Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammad Hassan.

In January 2011, Iraq signed a contract worth $3 billion for 18 F-16C/D Block 52 fighters — 12 single-seat F-16Cs and six two-seat F-16Ds — for delivery between 2014 and 2015.

In March 2012, the first Iraqi F-16 pilot graduated from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training in the United States. In October that year, Iraq ordered 18 more F-16s.

On May 2, 2014, the first Iraqi F-16IQ — F-16D serial number 1601 — made its maiden flight at Forth Worth, Texas, followed by official delivery to Iraq on June 5. The first two aircraft, 1601 and 1602, went to Tucson International Airport, home of the U.S. Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, which trains Iraqi pilots.

In September, I have contributed to Issue
No. 131 of "Défense & Sécurité International" magazine with an
article about the "French aerial operations against Libya in the 1980s" in Chad and the Mediterranean sea.

Friday, September 15, 2017

But Islamist attacks probably won't compell Libyan rivals to work together

On Aug. 23, 2017, nine soldiers from the Libyan National Army’s 131st Brigade — including its commander Ali Al Ghadbane — were killed at a checkpoint near Al Fugha between Sabha and Zillah in southwestern Libya. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The last attack by the terrorist group took place in May 2017, targeting a convoy of the Misrata militia’s 3rd Force. Since the end of August 2017, ISIS has stepped up its activity in the Sirte region.

Monday, August 21, 2017

This summer, two of my stories are published in issue 20 of The Aviation Historian magazine and september issue of Air Forces Monthly. First one is the story of the Libyan Tu-22s "Blinder" engaged in Chad against Chadian and French written in collaboration with my colleague Tom Cooper. Two of them were lost during the air raids against N'Djamena in 1986 and 1987. The second article (Flaspoint) establishes an assessment of the air war in Yemen since March 2015.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Libyan National Army Air Force has lost a new aircraft over Derna today, shot down by Derna Mujahidine Shura Council (DMSC) militants. The pilot, Adel Al-Jihani, and the co-pilot, Wael Al-Wakwak, ejected but Al-Jihani died from his wounds shortly after it was detained by DMSC. According to LNA spokesman, the aircraft was a MiG-21, but other LNA sources claimed it was a MiG-23. The fact that the crew took off from Tobruk airbase would confirm that it would indeed be one of the three remained MiG-21UMs of the fleet (serial number 073, 076 or 117).

Edit 30 July 2017 : It seems that the pilot, Adel Al-Jihani was a MiG-23 pilot and has been executed in retaliation of previous airstrike performed by him ... The lost aircraft is therfore MiG-23UB '8008'

Saturday, June 10, 2017

On 9 June 2017, United Nations Panel of Experts published its latest report about Libya. Parts of this document (18 pages on 299) used or confirmed my work done for War Is Boring and Défense et Sécurité Internationale magazine.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

On May 26, 2017, armed men traveling in pickup trucks gunned down 28 Coptic Christians and wounded 26 as the Christians were on their way to visit a monastery in Egypt’s Minya province. Islamic State has claimed its responsibility for the attack. That same evening, Egypt announced that its air force had carried out six air raids on ISIS camps near the Libyan city of Derna. Cairo suspects that the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition of Islamist militias that formed in December 2014, supported the murders.

The strikes involved F-16C/D Block 52s covered by at least two Rafales. Weirdly, the Egyptian government posted a video supposed illustrating the operation, but the footage actually depicts a later strike on the city of Hun.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

In June Issue of Air
Force Monthly magazines, I
published the second contribution to my new series of monthly reports
named the "Flashpoint" : "Wolves in sheep's clothing", the concept of transforming Antonov transports into auxiliary bombers starting in 1967 in the Indian Air Force and used recently in the battle of Mosul by Iraqi AIr Force.

Friday, June 2, 2017

During the occupation that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, most Iraqi combat aircraft — MiG-23s, MiG-25s and Su-25s — were discovered by coalition forces in poor condition on various air bases, while others were discovered buried outside their bases or in nearby towns and villages where they had been abandoned.

Most IrAF aircraft were destroyed during and after the invasion, and any remaining materiel was discarded in the immediate aftermath of the war. No aircraft acquired during the era of Saddam Hussein would be retained in service by the new Iraqi air arms.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

This analysis was to be published initially on Middle East Eye, but this publication has been canceled. So I decided to share it for free on my blog ...

For six months, escalation is increasing in the Tamanhint area – 30 kilometer northeast of Al Sebha – between the LNA’s 12th Infantry Brigade and Misrata’s Third Force. The latest major confrontation was the attack on Brak al-Shati — 80 kilometers north of Al Sebha — infrastructure on 18 May which let about 140 LNA militaries and civilians killed, and an entire key military air base ravaged. How a militia like the Third Force managed to fall such airbase so easily ?

Monday, May 22, 2017

On May 10, 2017, a ceremony took place at Al Muthana air base in Iraq in the presence of Iraqi air force commander Gen. Anwar Hamad Amin. In the background of photos taken that day, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter with an Iraqi flag on the tail is visible.

The presence of this DHC-6 is surprising because no such aircraft has been reported as having been delivered to Iraq. According to sources War Is Boring agreed not to name, this airplane arrived in Iraq in secrecy in 2014 and is currently being used by the Iraqi intelligence service.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Iraqi Army Aviation has lost a Bell IA-407 on 13 May in western Mosul near Al-Qayrawan region. The pilots managed to land safely in a PMU (Popular Mobilization Units) base after being hit by ground fire and later evacuated. This is the second Bell IA-407 down in five weeks. Previous one was down on 6 April in Al-Muhandisin district of Mosul city. A Mi-35 crashed near Baiji on 4 January and another Bell IA-407 was lost in Mukeshefah area North of Samarra at 140 km north of Baghdad on 29 October 2016. Seven Bell helicopters were captured, crashed or shot down in three years of fighting against Islamic State.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The Big One usually refers to a nuclear weapon, a nuclear bomb in particular. In case of the AN602 (AH602) this term is especially fitting for this thermonuclear weapon was indeed big both in terms of its yield as well as weight and dimensions. The bomb went under several other designations including RDS-202 (РДС-202), RN202 (PH202) and names such as Ivan (Иван). It was also called Kuzkina mat (Кузькина мать) literally meaning the mother of Kuzma which was a reference to the Soviet Union’s leader of that time Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ( Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв) exclamation "Мы вам покажем Кузькину мать!" – phonetically “My vam pokazhem Kuzkinu mat!” – which literally means we will show you Kuzma’s mother but colloquially expresses the intention to teach others a harsh lesson. However arguably the weapon is best known as the Tsar bomba (Царь-бомба) even if the Soviets themselves never actually used this term. Since it is pointless to “swim against the tide” Tsar bomba will henceforth be used in this piece as well. The said “doomsday device” was developed by a team of physicists headed by Yulii Borisovich Khariton (Ю́лий Бори́сович Харито́н) which also included many other distinguished Soviet scientists with Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (Андре́й Дми́триевич Са́харов) among them.

While considerable attention is usually devoted to the bomb itself and its test – that hardly being surprising – the aircraft which delivered it and the men who flew it usually stay in relative obscurity. Yet a nuclear bomb without a bomber remains useless for obvious reasons. Thus it begs to devote a few words to the Tu 95V bomber which was an aircraft devised specifically to carry and drop the Tsar bomba.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Forces loyal to the Libyan renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar
claim foreign mercenaries are being recruited to bolster the air power
of rival fighters in the city of Misrata. Colonel Ahmed Almesmari, of
Haftar's Libyan National Army, said this week that the 11 mercenaries
had entered the city, including "nine jet technicians from Ecuador, one
Ukrainian pilot, one missile expert from Georgia".

A source close to the international mission in Libya, who asked to
remain anonymous, also confirmed this to Middle East Eye. Almesmari told
MEE that the Libyan National Army (LNA) was "not in a stage to comment
further". "In case we decide to announce detailed info, it will be on
our official outlets," he added.

The mercenaries were reported by MEE's source to have entered the cities of Misrata and Mitiga.The hiring of mercenaries would break UN resolutions on arms control in Libya.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Two publications in May 2017 : in DSI issue No.129, I talk about the engagement of Egyptian and Emirati Air Forces in Libya with a focus on the UAE deployment at al-Khadim airbase; I have also written a short piece about the latest batch of four F-16IQs delivered to Iraqi Air Force in Issue No.350 of Air Forces Monthly magazine

Monday, April 24, 2017

The Libyan News Agency published on 16 April 2017 a video from inside the Libyan National Army Air School at Tobruk where new pilots are being trained on Mi-2 helicopters. Colonel Pilot Mohamed Ben Ali, commanding officer of the Mi-2 Squadron, said that the military personnel carried out 1553 sorties, which lasted 1200 hours and 45 minutes. Ben Ali explained that these flights included military operations in addition to other training that contributed to the rehabilitation of nine pilots from the combat squadrons, and raise the efficiency of eight other pilots on Mi-2 Squadron.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

In March-April, two of my articles are published in DSI and Combat Aircraft Monthly magazines. The first one is the story of the Garud commando forces, the special forces dedicated to the Indian Air Force in DSI special Issue. In Combat Aircraft Monthly, I
published a short piece about the latest Aero Vodochody L-159s delivered to Iraqi Air Force.

Monday, April 17, 2017

The Libyan National Army Air Force — part of the eastern-based Tobruk regime, one of two competing governments in Libya — lost two fighter-bombers and an experienced pilot in fewer than two weeks. A MiG-21 shot down over the Al Sabri district in Benghazi and a second MiG-21 that crashed near Tobruk after a mission to Derna, killing the commander of Gamal Abdul El Nasser air base.

The LNA/AF, under the command of Gen. Khalifa Haftar, also lost a Mi-35 gunship helicopter that the air arm abandoned at Ras Lanouf air base during a militant attack — and then destroyed.The losses have sharply reduced the LNA/AF’s combat capability as it battles western-based Misrata militants who are determined to hold Libya’s central oil crescent.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

In March-April, two of my articles are published in Airpower and Air Force Monthly magazines. The first one is an analysis of the future of the F-35 : "Le F-35 est-il condamné ?". In Air Forces Monthly, I published the first contribution to my new series of monthly reports named the "Flashpoint" : "Dusty' goes to war", the secretive Libyan war record of the Air Tractor.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

On 14 March, General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army launched a counterattack against the fighters of the Saraya Defend Benghazi and the Petroleum Facilities Guard coalition, which had managed to take most of the coastal cities near the oil terminals 10 days earlier.

This lightning counter-offensive has left observers skeptical. How could an army have lost an entire region in a few days - and then recovered it so quickly?

With various events commemorating the centennial of the First World War or the Great War as the global conflict is also known the attention of aviation enthusiasts is among other things drawn to the so call balloon busting – that is to the shooting down of enemy aerostats which was an important part of World War One aerial warfare. This was so despite the fact that powered flight was by that time already well established. However aerostats still played an important role, especially observation blimps were of great use allowing to watch enemy positions and look behind his lines. For obvious reason neither of the warring side could tolerate this and hence the aforementioned balloon busting. It is less known however, that many balloons and other aerostats were also shot down in times chronologically much closer. In particular the Cold War saw many such incidents occurring but they also took place even more recently – leaving the former for another time it seems fitting to bring to attention the latter.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

On March 3, 2017, fighters from Saraya Defend Benghazi — also known as Benghazi Defense Brigade, an Islamist militia group that formed in June 2016 to oppose the dominant Libyan National Army and its popular leader Gen. Khalifa Hafter — together with members of Ibrahim Jadhran’s Petroleum Facilities Guard and Misrata’s Al Marsa Brigade, attacked An Nawfaliya, Bin Jawad, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in Libya’s Oil Crescent.

Their goal was to seize the oil terminals in those towns. And thus control Libya’s wealth. The attack has upended the Libyan civil war.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

On Feb. 24, 2017, photographs taken by Libyan National Army Air Force technicians — and which appeared on social media — revealed that Russia appears to have supplied at least one warplane to forces under the command of Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar’s army, concentrated in eastern Libya and based in Tobruk, is the chief rival of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord based in the western capital of Tripoli. The 73-year-old marshal, who once lived in exile near the CIA headquarters in Virginia, has received military support from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.

Friday, February 24, 2017

This month, two of my short reports are published in March Issue of Air Force Monthly about the deployment of Nigerian Air Force in Gambia and a combat report about Iraqi Air Force and Iraqi Army Aviation in action in the battle of Mosul.

Monday, February 6, 2017

New
satellite photos of the al-Khadim airbase taken in December clearly show that
the United Arab Emirates are on the verge of deploying fighter jets on Libyan
territory. The engagement of the air force of Abu Dhabi
alongside Marshal Haftar has already been confirmed for several months. Indeed, IOMAX
AT-802 Air Tractors and Chinese-made Wing Loong drones are located on al-Khadim
airbase since at least July. Their pilots - most of them are American mercenaries working for
Erik Prince as
source told War Is Boring in January - regularly carried out air support
missions for the benefit of the Libyan National Army against Islamic groups in
Benghazi

Friday, January 27, 2017

The Joint Air Power Competence Center (JAPCC) is a NATO-accredited, multinational Center of Excellence (COE) based in Kalkar, Lower Rhine. The main focus of the JAPCC is the further development of the strategic / operational leadership and deployment principles for the use of NATO and JAPCC nations' airspace and space. This multi-national center of excellence, which is based on a German initiative, was launched in 2005. Since then, the JAPCC has been stimulating the further development of "Air and Space Power" through numerous concept papers and publications as well as the participation of various committees and working groups.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

This month, I published in issue 18 of The Aviation Historian magazine about the story of Dassault Mirage in Zairian Air Force (FAZA). These aircraft were often piloted by French instructor for training Zairian, but also for attack missions, notably during the second Shaba war in 1978 (or Kolwezi crisis).

Monday, January 16, 2017

On 8December 2016, pro-LNA social-media account published footage of an unused Chinese
made Type 84 remotely delivered antivehicle landmine with TYPE 122-15 ATML
rocket found in Ganfouda district in Benghazi in a place seized from BRSC
fighters few days ago. This is believed to be the first recorded use in Libya
since the 2011 uprising and first by islamist militia forces fighting the LNA.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Today, Libyan National Army Air Force lost its sole MiG-23ML in service, serial number '26453'. According to LNA Spox, the aircraft was shot down and crashed in Ganfouda / Bosnib area in Benghazi. The pilot, Colonel Younes Aldinạli, ejected, but suffered of a broken ankle on the left foot and some bruises. MiG-23ML '26453' entered in service in February 2016 soon after the lost of three others 'Flogger' in two months. Two MiG-23BNs were added to the fleet in April and May, but serial '8985 crashed on 6 July.